Volcanoes Erupting All Over

Pico de Teide, Tenerife - Spain
29 Jan 2026

It appears that Pico de Teide's unrest continues - something which has been going on for several months. The last eruption occurred back in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent



Pico del Teide: Is a volcanic eruption imminent?
January 29, 2026 by Marc Szeglat

Earthquake activity on Teide fuels fears of volcanic eruption

The Teide volcano on Tenerife claims to be the largest volcano in Europe, along with Mount Etna. Viewed from the sea floor, Teide is actually significantly larger than Etna in terms of height and volume. However, Etna has been much more active, at least in recent centuries, and is therefore, in my opinion, the most powerful volcano in Europe. In addition, although Teide belongs to Europe politically, geologically it belongs to Africa. Apart from these considerations, there are growing concerns that Teide, which has been dormant since 1909, could erupt again soon. These fears are fueled by a high number of earthquakes beneath Teide: according to INVOLCAN, 2,320 earthquakes were recorded on Tenerife last year alone, most of them beneath the Las Cañadas caldera, where the famous Pico del Teide rises.


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Earthquakes on Tenerife
The high level of seismic activity beneath Mount Teide appears to be continuing this year: on January 26, a seismic swarm of 59 weak tremors was recorded. The following day, there were 33 tremors, some of which showed the pattern of hybrid earthquakes and were concentrated in the southwest of the caldera. Hybrid earthquakes are related to fluid movements. The focal depths of the current swarms are around 12 kilometers and could have been caused directly by rising magma.

Due to growing concern
the volcanologists at INVOLCAN have now published a memorandum in which they classify the quakes, apparently in an effort to calm the rising tide of concern, which in my opinion is only partially successful. The volcanologists point to the increased seismic activity since 2016, which is associated with increased CO₂ emissions.

Uplift recorded
In addition, a slight uplift of the ground has been recorded. The volcanologists argue that the seismic activity is currently only slightly above average: statistically, there are 6.35 earthquakes per day on Tenerife. Since 2016, 130 earthquake swarms have been recorded, so the current activity fits into this pattern and there is no threat of a volcanic eruption in the short or medium term. In the long term, however, the situation looks different: even if the Teide is unlikely to erupt in the coming days and weeks, the situation can change rapidly within months and years, and an eruption can even be considered probable.

The attempts by volcanologists and authorities to reassure the public are once again typical of people who think in terms of terms of office and legislative periods. Although there is currently no reason to cause panic, in my opinion, the danger of a volcanic eruption at Pico del Teide should not be downplayed, but people should be prepared for it. Otherwise, there will be a big surprise if a disaster similar to the one on La Palma in 2021 occurs!


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Photo Impressions
from 31 March 2014 in the evening at sunset, at 2200 meter height inside the caldera of Pico de Teide. It is a truly fascinating place, and the caldera is absolutely vast (9x16 km) !!

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Pico de Teide, Tenerife, Spain
21 February 2025

There appears to be a lot of restlessness going on at Teide... Apparently magma is collecting in a depth between 8-12 km, since the hybrid earthquakes are indicative for such processess. German Vulkane.net has reported several times about the ongoing events in the past weeks at Teide.

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Tenerife: Intense swarm of earthquakes continues
Ongoing swarm of earthquakes on Tenerife – More than 3,000 earthquakes beneath the Pico del Teide volcano

Pico del Teide on Tenerife remains the focus of geoscientists, who are monitoring the volcano and island closely and with growing concern: The earthquake swarm that began on February 18 continued yesterday.

Since then, more than 3,000 weak tremors have been detected. The events began to escalate on February 7, when the first volcanic-tectonic earthquake swarms began, during which two types of earthquakes were detected that are directly related to the movements of magmatic fluids underground. Since then, the Canary Islands measurement network of the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN) has been in constant operation. The events are part of an ongoing trend of increased unrest that began at the end of 2016.


Seismic events
Initially, several low-frequency seismic events occurred—a type of signal associated with the movement of hydrothermal fluids such as water and carbon dioxide at great depths. Particularly notable was an episode on February 10: between 8:45 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., a continuous low-frequency signal was recorded, the duration of which had not been documented in this form since systematic observations began in 2016.

Hybrid earthquakes
At the same time, three hybrid earthquake swarms developed within a few days. The first lasted from February 12, 5:00 p.m., to February 13, 5:00 a.m., and included more than 800 individual events. The second followed from February 16, 6:00 p.m., to February 17, 8:00 a.m., with over 1,400 quakes. The third swarm began on February 18 at 11:00 p.m. and was still active on the evening of February 20; more than 3,000 microquakes have been recorded so far. All three series were located southwest of the Las Cañadas caldera at depths between 8 and 12 kilometers. Due to their very low magnitudes, they went unnoticed by the population.

The current weekly report “GUAYOTA” also refers to the archipelago-wide seismicity: between February 13 and 20, 315 weak earthquakes were recorded. The strongest event reached a magnitude of 2.4 and occurred on February 19 between Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The total energy released remained low.

The volcanic traffic light on Tenerife remains green
Experts from the scientific committee emphasize that the latest signals do not indicate an increased probability of a short- or medium-term eruption. Nevertheless, the development confirms the continuing pressure build-up in the volcanic-hydrothermal system under Mount Teide. In the long term, there is a high probability of an eruption on Mount Teide.

The last eruption on Mount Teide
took place on November 18, 1909. Although the first seismographs were already in existence at that time, they were not yet in use on Tenerife and were hardly capable of registering volcanic microquakes. Therefore, there is no data available on how exactly Mount Teide behaves before a volcanic eruption.

In recent years, data has been collected on the neighboring islands of El Hierro and La Palma, but since each volcano has its own individual characteristics, these findings cannot necessarily be transferred 1:1 to Mount Teide. Nevertheless, assuming that the situation is not completely different from that on La Palma, the situation could well come to a head in the medium term.

The current earthquake swarms indicate that magma is accumulating at a depth of 8 to 12 kilometers. Under certain circumstances, the final magma ascent from this depth can take place within a few days: on La Palma, just eight days passed between the onset of sustained earthquake swarms, the first ground uplifts, and the volcanic eruption.


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